We Gamble With Desire
by Dewey18
Summary: Alex Gaskarth, Sequel to Have you Seen this Girl
1. Chapter 1

Two years have gone past since Alex and I first got together. I'm not going to lie, stretch the truth or pretend that we didn't have our fair share of problems, because we did. We've even broken up a few times; although they never lasted much longer than a day or two.

I had moved out to Maryland to be with him a year into the relationship.

"_Spencer, I just landed I should be to our normal spot in about ten minutes. Are you there?" He had asked in the phone. _

"_I'm here." I said excitedly, waiting in a small corner at the airport._

"_Kay, I can't wait to see you baby." _

"_Me neither." I said nervously fidgeting with my shirt; smoothing it down, picking off a stray piece of hair. _

_Not even ten minutes later I found myself with a pair of strong arms wrapped around me picking me up. "God I missed you." Alex said kissing me intensely_

"_Alex, public." I reminded him. _

"_You mean I'm not aloud to just fuck you right here?" He joked. _

"_That is exactly what I mean Mr. Gaskarth. _

"_Well too bad." He pulled on the hem of my shirt. I shreiked and started laughing as he bent down to kiss me lightly. The people around us looked irritated with us, but I couldn't find myself to care. _

_We walked out to find my car hand in hand. "Spencer, I was wondering since Adam and you don't live together anymore maybe you could think about moving back with me to Maryland…" He suggested nervously as we sat in my car, waiting at a red light. Too stunned to respond, I starred into his pleading brown eyes. The light changed to green and I remained where I was, never even noticing the change."Spencer, green means go." Alex said snapping me out of my thoughts. "You don't have to come if you don't want to, I'll understand…it's just getting kind of expensive for us to fly to see each other, and I can't stand to be without you so much…"_

_Finally finding the words I wanted I spoke, "You want me to move in with you?"_

"_Of course!" He said happily._

"_But want about Adam…" _

"_Well he's with what's his face—"_

"_Nick." I filled in for him. _

"—_now, he'll be fine." _

"_But I've never been so far a way from him." I protested. "What about school Alex?" My voice sounded hollow, detached as we contined driving to my house._

"_Well, you know there's that art school out by the house that you always look at." He suggested, glancing at me nervously. "Plus, you really don't have to come, it was just a suggestion."_

"_It's not that I don't want to…there's just a lot to think about." I said turning into my apartment._

"_I know you don't h have to decide now Spence, when you're ready." Alex squeezed my hand as we parked near the door closest to my apartment. _

And that's how I got suckered into moving across the country for the boy in the band. I transferred to the really nice art college and we moved all of my stuff into the large house he shared with Rian and Kara.

Then what does he do, not even a month after I move in? He leaves to record a new CD.

Although I shouldn't complaine, it could be worse; he calls every night and we see each other every once in a while and I have Kara and Sabastion for company.

"Spencer!" Alex yelled in the phone before I had a chance to say hello.

"Alex, my ears can only take so much of your intensity in a day." I said referring to the outburst he'd have earlier that day when he called to say good morning. "What's going on butthead?"

"We finished recording!" He said, sounding extremely hyper.

"Oh yay!' I replied happily as I sat on the couch in the living room, holding Sabastion, and watching the muted Grey's Anatomy. "What'd you have to do next?"

"Well they have to edit the last few tracks a bit, but we don't have to be here for that so I figured we could all go to my super secret relaxation place."

"…Alex I don't know."

"Come on Spencer, pleasse?" He begged.

I giggled at him. "I"ll think about it; for all I know you could be taking me up to a cabin in the woods to rape and axe murder me!"

"Now would I do that to you?" He asked offeneded, I could picture him holding his hand to his chest, right above his heart, pretending to look hurt.

"Hmm, quite possibly."

"Well, as long as you know the agenda."

"You're such a butt, when are you coming home?"

"We're boarding in twenty and we'll be there in…umm however long it takes to get from here to there." He said with a smile on his face.

"Alex hand the phone to Rian." I said, pretend ing I was fed up with his antics.

"Why?!"

"Because, I need a reliable source to inform me on when I'll need to pick you up."

"Fine." He said, I pictured him with a pout on his face.

"Hello?" Rian asked.

"Ri!" I squealed happy to hear his voice for the first time in what felt like years.

"Spencer! How art thou?"

"Thou is swell; wait no, I'm not, I'm irritaed."

"What'd Alex do now?" He asked, in the background I could hear Alex protest that he never did anything wrong.

I laughed with him. "Alex does not know when you'll be arriving home and with Kara gone at her madre's I kind of need to know when to pick you up…

"Alex you're a fail." Rian said slightly pulling the phone away to make his voice muffled. "Well the flight'll take at least an hourish."

"Kay I'll be here around then." I said writing it down other wise I'd forget.

"Spencer, I love you."

"Love you to Lex."

"I gotta go though, see you soon?"

"Course." I said excitedly.

"Good, I miss you."

"Go before you miss your plane!" I ordered, not wanting to give way to how much I'd missed him as well.


	2. Chapter 2

After hanging up, I set Sebastian on the floor and headed towards Alex and my bedroom; the room that needed the most attention. Frantically I stuffed dirty clothes in laundry basket to be washed and clean clothes in the drawers. Grabbing a few empty water bottles and plastic movie wrappers I made my way down to the basement to our laundry room, which doubled as a music-practice room.

In the small, somewhat depressing, white room I shoved clothes in our machine and prayed I'd have enough time to finish cleaning the house.

Back in the kitchen I scrubbed the granite counters and finished the dishes from this morning's breakfast. Sweeping the floor quickly as Sebastian yelped at my feet.

"Baz, if you don't like the broom why do you come by me?" I asked him as if he could respond to me. He barked happily up towards me then pranced over to his food bowl which was practically empty. "Oh, it'd probably help if I gave you some lunch." I leaned down into the bottom cabinet where we kept the extremely large, heavy, bag of dog food. After giving him two cupfuls of dry food I closed the bag and the cabinet and let him eat.

Straightening up the living room I folded the large black fleece blanket, which was always draped over the couch, and put the pillows back in the corner of the grey couch. Sebastian, now finished with the food in the kitchen, decided to jump up onto the couch, messing up the pillows. "Sebastian, I just fixed that." I complained as I moved him off the couch. I turned my back to take the empty cup off the table and he jumped back up. "Sebastian, no off the couch!" Looking hurt, he jumped off and walked, with his tail between his legs, to Alex and my room. After disposing the cup in the dishwasher and straightening the coffee table, I went to my room to get ready.

"Sebastian? Where are you bud?" I called into the light green room as I looked for the small dog. "Sebastian?" I asked again looking under the bed and behind items when I couldn't find him. "Where'd you go?" I wondered aloud, slightly worried.

Walking into the hallway I called for him again "Baz?"

When the little dog didn't come out of his hiding spot, I figured he was moping after being yelled at and went into the bathroom to get ready to pick up the boys.

I turned on the shower without looking inside the plastic fish curtain, that Alex insisted we have. A moment after the water came on I heard a yelp, followed by Sebastian scrambling to get out of the tub. Being too small to jump up without help I came to the rescue, pushing back the curtain quickly and picking him up. I laughed at the sight, "Poor baby, no wonder you didn't come when I called you." I grabbed one of the towels out of the cabinet and dried him off.

With the door closed I knew he wouldn't be able to get out and drip around the house. "Just give me ten minutes Baz, relax." I said as I climbed into the shower.

Once I was through with the shower and drying my hair I walked into the bedroom, towel wrapped around me. I pulled out a small grey sweater dress and purple tights from my closet and put them on quickly grabbing my brown bag and black boots, I rushed back into the bathroom to get dressed, put eyeliner and mascara on, and to throw my hair up in a messy pony tail.

As I reached the small entryway to our house I switched the stuff from my usual purse to the phone I had grabbed earlier; making sure I had my phone, Ipod and keys I opened the door, only to find Sebastian whining at my feet. "Sebastian, I gotta go." I said trying to get around him to open the screen door without him leaving with me. Slipping between my feet every time, I wasn't having much luck. "Ugh, you're so spoiled Sebastian." I said picking him up. "Come on."

In the car, I put Sebastian down on the seat next to me and pushed the key in the ignition. With the sound of the car starting up Sebastian got up on the window to look out. I opened the garage door with the push of a button and plugged in my ipod for music; setting it to Fall Out Boy's _Get Bust Living or Get Busy Dying. _

After the fifteen minute drive to the airport I parked the car on a close spot to the door on the first floor, cracked the windows a bit for Sebastian, grabbed my keys and ipod, and headed for the cross walk to the pickup section.

Not even two minutes after I got inside Alex called me, "Spencer guess where I am!"

"Umm, the moon?" I asked laughing.

"No, you're allowed one more guess."

"Uh, I don't know Alex; where are you?" I said sitting down in the uncomfortable plastic chairs near the escalators.

"I am home!"

"You're _at_ the house Alex." I asked, although it came out as more of a statement, through clenched teeth.

"No, not yet; I'm ridding down the escalator. Oh my god I see you!" He waved excitedly "Oh, bye." He hung up and ran up to me, shoving his bag into Zack's stomach. He pulled me close into him hugging me until I couldn't breathe. "I missed you."

"Can't breathe." I said before he looked down and released me. "I missed you too!"

"God, you're even hotter than before." He said smirking.

I smacked his arm lightly. "Shut up."

"Sorry, I cannot tell a lie."

"Oh, alright_ Honest Abe._" I laughed at him and he pulled me close again.

"You really are beautiful, Spencer."

"Lies." I whispered as he leaned down to kiss me lightly.

Just before we could let the kiss turn into anything Jack Zack and Rian surrounded us. "Seriously get a room." Zack said shoving Alex's bag back at Alex.

"Ouch dude." Alex said holding the heavy bag, pretending to be seriously hurt.

"You deserved it Lex." I said hugging Zack tightly.

"Spencer!" Jack yelled loudly.

I cringed at the volume of his voice in my ear, people around us starred at the screaming boy. "Jack, inside voice." I giggled at the idea of Jack actually ever listening to that.

"Sorry, I do not comprehend your words." He joked grabbing me and hugging me tightly.

"Dude, let her breathe; it can't be healthy." Zack said from behind me.

"Don't kill my girlfriend Jack." Alex said seriously.

He let me down, looking hurt. "You didn't hurt me Jack; you're not strong enough." I joked; his scrawniness was a good cover for his actual strength.

"Rian, you look sad." I noticed turning to the last member of the band; thankful he wasn't going to hug me like Jack and Alex tended to do, with his muscles he could probably break something.

"Nah, I'm good." He said, trying to look normal.

"No you're not; she'll be home soon, promise." I said, knowing he missed Kara being here.

"I know." He said smiling at me, as the other three boys joked around waiting for their luggage.

"I'm not Kara, but I do give good hugs." I said opening my arms attempting to cheer him up.

He chuckled and bent down to hug me, tighter than normal. "Come on; let's make sure Jack and Alex don't force Zack onto the conveyor belt." I laughed with him and walked over to the three rambunctious boys.

After grabbing their large bags the five us headed out towards the car. "Oh, by the way Baz is in the car." I said looking up at Alex. He nodded, setting his in the pile Rian was hurrying to stuff in the trunk he walked to the front door to hold his puppy.

Once the trunk was loaded and closed Rian, Zack, and Jack filed into the back seat and I climbed into the driver seat.

After at least ten minutes of music Rian asked, "Why is Sebastian in the car?"

"Because Sebastian spends way too much time with Alex, he's turning into him." I said, staring accusingly at the dog.

"What'd you mean?" Alex asked, looking hurt.

"Alright so I was cleaning the living room today, and I was fixing the couch; folding the blanket and setting the pillows in the right spot and Sebastian kept jumping on the couch, after I pushed him down, and messed them up. So after the second time I yelled at him a bit and he scurried off to our bedroom" I looked at Alex for a moment then back at the road. "to pout."

"Oh that sounds like Alex." Rian said laughing.

"There's more; So after I come to look for him but I can't find him in the room, I give up decide to take a shower, so I turn on the water without looking and then I hear a loud yelp, Baz had been chilling in the shower, hiding. And then after when I was leaving he refused to let me leave without him, so I took him." I finished as we pulled into the driveway at our house.

"That doesn't sound like me." Alex protested.

The four of us, and even Sebastian, looked at Alex like he was crazy. "Yes it does babe." I grabbed his hand and squeezed it lightly, as we chuckled.


	3. Chapter 3

After parking my car Rian helped Zack and Jack to move their bags into Zack's truck to bring over to their houses. Alex and I grabbed his things and entered the house, Sebastian following.

As Alex had put his suitcase in our room, flung himself on our bed, and dropped off his guitars in the basement he joined me in the kitchen as I made them some sandwiches for lunch.

Wrapping his arms around me and resting his head in the crook of my neck I could hear in breathing heavily. "Are you smelling me Al?" I asked giggling as I sliced tomatoes.

"Yes I am, I missed how you smell." He said breathing in again.

"Aw, you're so cute." I commented, shutting my eyes and scrunching up my nose at his cuteness. I dropped the knife and turned around in his arms. "I missed how you smell too." I said as I squeezed him close, taking in his smell of Chrome and shampoo.

"Well, finish lunch women and then I might let you cuddle with me." He said laughing.

"Wow, ordering her around already Alex?" Rian asked as he walked in the door, suitcase in hand and phone pressed tightly to his ear.

"See, Rian realizes the butthead you're being." I said as I playfully slapped his stomach.

"Dude, you're not supposed to say shit like that, now who's going to cook for us?" Alex yelled at Rian.

"Sorry man." Rian said as he walked down the hallway towards the stairs, heading towards his and Kara's room.

"Rian!" I shouted after him. "Tell Kara I said 'hello' please." I said knowing exactly who he was talking to.

He chuckled. "She says hey."

I laughed with him and then resumed cutting the tomatoes for our sandwiches. Alex sat down on one of the stools that sat next to the island kitchen.

After a moment of cutting in silence I turned towards the rest of the ingredients. "You could help, ya'know." I said frustrated.

"But I _like_ watching you work." He said laughing.

"Please Alex." I begged, giving him a puppy dog look.

"Alright fine, what do I have to do?" He said getting up and joining me.

"Well get bread out and start peeling the cheese packet thingys."

"Coming up!" He said over enthusiastically. Ten minutes later we had assembled three delicious looking ham, tomato, and cheese sandwiches.

"Lex, go get Rian down here to eat." I said as I reached down and got a small cup of dog food for Sebastian to eat.

"Alright, don't forget drinks baby." He called as he walked down the hall.

"Right." I said reaching into the fridge to get three pepsis.

Twenty minutes later and all three of us were finished, Rian was already back on the phone with Kara. "Alex will you pretty please do the dishes?" I begged as we sat at the table staring at each other.

"I'll help you with the dishes." He said raising his eyebrows.

"But my feet hurt." I whined, knowing I'd end up losing.

"After we can go cuddle in our room." He compromised.

"Will you rub my feet?"

"Fine." He grumbled.

"Alright, come on." I said grabbing dishes as he picked up the place mats.

Washing dishes with Alex, although I was tired, was always fun. We'd end up getting one dish cleaned properly, if I was lucky, and the rest of the time would be a splash war; Alex always started it calling my name, and then flicking water at me.

"Alex, that's not fair!" I complained getting dish water on my dress.

"Aw poor baby." He teased. "Give up?"

"You know I don't." I said, laughing, as I splashed him harder with my whole hand.

"Spencer, I only flicked you; you pummeled me with water." He complained looking down at his water soaked body.

"Aw poor baby." I said using his words against him.

"Spencer Leigh, I swear--" I cut him off by spraying him slightly with the water sprayer, vowing not to lose this time. "Oh my god, okay I quit; I'm wet and cold." He complained as he pouted.

"Aw, finish the dishes as I mop up the water." I said leaving to get the mop.

"Spencer, this is unfair!" He called after me as he cleaned the dishes.

"I think you'll get over it." I replied as I mopped the area around him.

When we were finished we headed towards the stairs, climbing past the wall of pictures of Rian, Kara, Alex and I in various places, on the way to our room.

Entering the light green bedroom I headed for the set of dresser that held my clothes and extracted my favorite Milwaukee sweat pants and a new tank top and sweatshirt to sleep in; our house was always kept freezing cold during the summer.

Alex, clearly having descended from Eskimos, pulled off his shirt and put on only a pair of basketball shorts and was comfortable.

"Alex, how do you stand being in this cold house with only shorts on?" I asked for about the millionth time.

"I don't know babe." He said lying down on the bed. "What movie?"

"Uh, that's your decision." I said moving towards the massive dvd collection we had under our plasma TV.

"How about we watch Pirates of the Caribbean?" He asked watching the ceiling.

"Oh yes!" I said happily, bending down to find the case for it.

After putting it into the machine I hurriedly walked towards the bed, lying as close to Alex as I could get; hoping to share body heat.

"God Spence, I forgot hold cold you get." He commented, chuckling, as he wrapped his arms around me.

"Well maybe if you, Rian and Kara didn't keep the house like the North Pole during the summer I wouldn't be cold." I complained, my teeth chattering.

He laughed again and pulled the small blanket, that reside at the bottom of the bed, over us. "How's that?"

I snuggled into him a little further and smiled. "Perfect."

He kissed the top of my forehead lightly, intertwining our fingers together. "Good. I love you, Spencer."

"I love you too Lex" I smiled up at him as he leaned down to kiss my lips lightly.

We laid in our bed cuddling and talking about all the shenanigans the boys had gotten into while recording their new CD. Alex talked animatedly using his hand (the other I kept a firm grasp on) and raising his voice to emphasize; we both laughed loudly as we retold stories of our time apart.


	4. Chapter 4

"Spencer, wake up." Alex whispered as he shook me roughly.

"What, Alex?" I asked agitated, as I kept my eyes shut tightly.

"Wake up." He said laughing as he shook me again.

I groaned and turned around to face him. "What do you need Alexander."

"For you to pack." He responded as if it was obvious.

"Umm why? Where are we going…?" I asked confused sitting up on my elbow.

"I told you; my super special secret place." He said, as excited as a kid talking about going to a candy shop or Disney World.

"When are we going…?" I asked knowing Alex wouldn't tell me _where_ we were going.

"Tomorrow at eight in the morning." He said getting up to pick up the small dog that was currently scratching at the wood floor.

"I don't know Alex…" I said petting Sebastian lightly as he curled in a ball between Alex and me.

"Pleasse Spencer?" He asked giving me his puppy dog eyes and his lower lip stuck out in a pout. "Rian, Jack, Zack, Melissa and Kara are all going." He bargained.

"You know I don't like Melissa." I said grumpy.

"No one but Zack _likes_ Melissa." He pointed out loudly.

"I know…Kara's going?" I asked, making sure someone sane would be with me.

"Yes she is, and she _loves_ this place." He replied smugly.

"What am I supposed to pack? I don't even know where we're going." I complained getting up and walking towards the large dresser that sat to the left of our TV and movie shelves.

"Just pack clothes you'd normally wear around this time; shorts, some pants, shirts, sweatshirts, pajamas." He replied as he started wrestling with Sebastian.

"Alex, it's not fair to fight with Baz you are about twenty times bigger than him." I said laughing as the two played with one of the various tug-o-war toys Sebastian had.

"Spencer, I think you're supposed to be packing not instructing me and Sebastian." He said picking up the small dog, looking serious. I started laughing at them as Alex attempted to look intimidating. "Come on Baz, we don't need her criticism." He huffed and stood up, heading for the door.

"No Alex!" I called after him as I grabbed his hand. "Help me pack, please? You know I hate packing." I pouted.

He gave me one of his are-you-serious faces and then smiled. "Fine, but only because you're cute." He said as he put Sebastian down and sat next to me on the floor with the red suitcase in between us. "But we have to stop in about fifteen minutes."

"Why?" I asked confused as I pulled open the drawer that held my shirts.

"Because dinner'll be ready then." He said giving me a large smile.

"You made me dinner?" I asked ignoring the packing and looking at him.

"Well you made me lunch." He said making me smile, Alex never made food; which was probably a good thing on most occasions. "And I was hungry and you're too cute when you sleep for me to want to wake you up."

"Alex you're so cute." I said pinching his cheek lightly.

He blushed and pulled me in for a light kiss. "Eh, I know."

"And full of yourself." I replied bluntly, slapping his cheek lightly.

"Get your clothes out woman." He said after a moment. I laughed but did as he said, pulling out about ten shirts, three pairs of pajama bottoms, a few basketball shorts, four jean shorts, three pairs of jeans, and two of my sundresses.

"Alex, don't you think this is too much for clothes?" I asked, interrupting him from folding the clothes.

"Nah, we're going for over a week, plus I know the weather isn't always very predictable on top of you tend to change your clothes a lot." He continued folding them and attempted to fit them all in the one bag. "We should go get our dinner, finish this later." He said standing up and reaching their hand down towards me.

"Yum." I said grabbing his hand, finally smelling the food cooking downstairs. "What are we having?"

"Well I made the steaks that were in the fridge, mashed potatoes and gravy, and because I know that if I didn't you'd yelled at me, some corn and green beans with the seasoning you normally put on."

"Oh yummy" I said skipping down the hall to the top of the stairs.

Downstairs Alex made me sit down at the table in the kitchen while he brought the various dishes, silverware, and the drinks. Before sitting down he dimmed the light above us a bit and lit the few small candles that sat in the middle of the table.

"Aw Alex, this is all so nice." I said looking around at all the things.

"Well, I missed you; a lot." He said grabbing my hand. "Plus I wanted to do something you'd like."

"Aww, Alex." I said amazed at all of this. "I'd like whatever you did; I like just being with you."

"I remember a different story about three years ago now." He said looking at me accusingly.

"What was three years ago now?" I asked confused, knowing our anniversary was still three months away.

"Three years ago today, I met you at a concert outside The Rave in Milwaukee, Wisconsin." He said matter-of-factly.

"Really?" I asked surprised he knew the exact date. "Do you remember this every year Al?"

"I could say yes and make you feel bad right now but no, I don't." He said putting food on his plate. "I only remembered it because I was randomly looking up the date one day and then when we found out what day we were coming home it just happened to be the same day."

My mouth opened in the shape of an 'o' as he talked. "Well I'm very sorry for the way I acted."

"You still haven't told me what was wrong that day, Spence." He said a bit after the silence we'd fallen into as we ate.

"You sure?" I asked trying to confuse him into changing his answer, knowing full well I hadn't told him; I was avoiding it.

"Yeah…" He said sounding like he was doubting himself.

"Pretty sure we did have this conversation already Lex." I said biting a piece of the rare steak. "By the way this is some of the best steak you've ever made." I said honestly.

"Thank you babe." He said happily changing the subject. "Jack's coming over tonight to sleep here so he can just stumble out to the car instead of driving over at seven."

"Oh that's good Jack doesn't function properly when, ok Jack doesn't ever function properly, but it's worse when it's early in the morning." I said still worried he'd return to the previous subject, I didn't know if he had forgotten or just dropped it.

He laughed at what I was saying. "Very true, Spencer."

The rest of dinner we talked and laughed about this week—I wanted to know what we were doing—and things we still had to catch up on. After it was over we cleared the table civilly and then headed back upstairs to finish packing before Jack arrived.

"Spencer do you really need three pairs of shoes?" Alex asked amazed.

"Yes I do Alex." I said pulling out my black low top converse, my brown boots and a pair of random white flip flops.

"Fine as long as you can walk in all of them." He said returning to his own bag.

"And you're not bringing along multiple shoes?" I asked accusingly, knowing he was bringing at least three.

"That's different." He defended himself.

"Is not; you're bringing your flip flops, your sandals, your DCs and your Nikes." I said putting my hands on my hips. "That's more than me."

"Fine, I'll take out the sandals." He said putting his hands up in defeat.

"No, get rid of the flip flops." I said, hating when boys wore them.

"But Spencer you know I love them." He pouted.

"Don't give me that look." I said laughing. "Oh that's not fair."

"Yay flip flops!" He said taking out the sandals and leaving me to stuff my shoes, shampoo, razor, make-up, and other random items in the bag. "Don't forget a sweatshirt; you can't steal mine all week."

"But I _like_ yours better and I don't have room." I whined staring at the bulging bag.

"If I have room after my hair stuff and Sebastian's stuff you can put it in my bag." He responded not looking up.

"Baz is coming with us?" I asked happily.

"Yes, I can't leave him _again_." He said picking up the puppy and holding him at eye level, Sebastian reached out and licked his nose lightly.

"DOG SEX!" Jack yelled into our room and then ran back down the stairs.


	5. Chapter 5

Laughing as Jack ran down the steps I turned to Alex. "You might want to follow him…"

"But I still have to pack?" Alex replied confused.

"Okay but Alex, Jack…in our house…alone?" I asked trying to make him see my point.

"Oh god, well pack Sebastian's stuff okay?" He asked.

"Fine, just don't mess up anything or you have to clean it." I called after him as he ran down the stairs the same way as Jack.

I laughed at both of them as I packed Sebastian's few toys that entertained him and his leash. "Think we'll have a fun time Baz?" I questioned the small dog as I was zipping up both Alex and my suitcases. He barked happily. "I'll take that as a yes." I chuckled and picked the small dog up.

As I descended the stairs towards the living room I realized how quiet it was. _That cannot be a good sign_. I thought looking around for the boys.

"Alex?" I called into the open space. "Jack?" Sebastian barked with me, then wiggled in my arms. "Don't leave me too Baz." I whined as he jumped free of my arms.

Sebastian then started to walk back towards the kitchen, I decided to ignore him assuming he was after more of his food from his bowl.

After a few more minutes of cautiously looking for the two boys I heard snickering coming from the direction of the kitchen. Hurriedly I walked as quietly as I could.

Once in the kitchen I couldn't hold back my laughter at the scene in front of me; Sebastian had cornered Jack licking his leg as Jack tried to push him away all the while trying to muffle his laughter. "Jack, what in the world are you doing?"

"Well you're dog attacked me while I was hiding." He said pointing at Sebastian who continued to lick his leg.

"Now that's what I call dog sex." Alex said laughing, coming up behind me. Jack glared at him. "Good job Baz." Alex cooed at the small dog as he searched for a dog treat.

"What were you two doing?" I asked after a moment.

They both looked at me like I was asking a ridiculous question. "Playing hide and go seek…" Jack finally responded as if it was the most obvious thing ever. "New game?"

"Yes, you're it." Alex responded running off.

"That's not fair Gaskank! You didn't find me, your dog did!" Jack yelled, I laughed at him as I took Sebastian away from Jack.

"How long does it take to get to Alex's super secret spot?" I asked randomly after Jack had been sitting with his head in the corner for at least a minute.

"About three hours, maybe a little more. Why?"

"Just wondering, thinking about making some CD's for the car ride." I thought as I sat at the kitchen counter.

"Oh cool make me one." Jack said happily.

"Alrighty." I said cheerfully as I stood up and walked towards the computer room that held the house's only Mac desktop. Searching through the cabinets of the small windowed room for blank CDs was hell. There were at least ten drawers on the desk and five cabinets above. Finally in the last cabinet I found a stack of them.

Sitting down in the large black chair and set to work making fun CDs for the endless car ride.

After an hour I had four CDs filled with a mix of Blink, Cobra, Jack's Mannequin, Lil Wayne, Boys Like Girls, Motley Crue, Fall Out Boy, We The Kings, Hey Monday, Never Shout Never, and The Beatles.

After printing off the track list for all the CD's I set to work making the CDs look pretty using sharpies.

For the first one I drew an underwater scene, complete with fish, seaweed, corral and completely colored blue ocean water. The second one I wrote random quotes and song lyrics all over it in different colors. The third CD was decorated with random monsters and other little pictures. By the fourth one I started to get bored, I colored it with peace signs, hearts and other shapes.

"Whatcha doing baby?" Alex asked coming up from behind me as I was placing the last cap on the sharpies.

"Just doing some drawing." I answered cleaning the desk space up.

"Oh I love when you draw."

"Why?" I asked turning around to face him, still sitting in the desk chair.

"Because you're amazing at it." He said smiling.

"You're such an over-exaggerator."

"No I'm not, you're really good at drawing Spence." Alex replied leaning down to kiss me, his hair brushing my face.

"Fine." I replied attempting to hide my yawning.

"Tired?" He asked extending his hand for me to take.

"No." I lied getting up to walk with him.

"Yes you are, you keep yawning." He said as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"Only because you bore me." I joked.

"Oh well fine then, you can sleep down here with Jack."

"But he snores." I said attempting to look scared.

"Should've thought about that before."

"Please Alex?" I begged looking up at him with puppy dog eyes.

"Oh fine." He said laughing. "Movie first though?"

"What movie?" I replied as we walked into the living room where Jack was already hogging the couch.

"I don't know, I think Jack's watching My Best Friend's Girl."

"Only if you make me some hot chocolate." I said smiling up at him as I sat down in the recliner.

"You're such a mooch." He said as he turned around and headed back towards the kitchen. "Jack, do you want anything?"

"What're you making?" He asked lazily, keeping his eyes fixed on the screen.

"Hot chocolate." He replied as the sounds of clanking glasses erupted from behind him.

"In the summer?"

"Hey, I'm cold." I said as I pulled my knees to my chest.

"How about popcorn?" Alex offered still messing with stuff in the kitchen. Jack replied with an enthusiastic yes and turned back to face the TV. In the kitchen I could hear Alex slamming the fridge for milk, rummaging the cupboards for chocolate mix and popcorn, slamming the microwave and pressing loud buttons for both the hot chocolate and the popcorn.

At least ten minutes later Alex returned with two bowls of popcorn, two cups of hot chocolate and three bottles of water. "Thank you baby." I said to him as he handed me my mug and sat down next to me in the large recliner.

He set the waters on the coffee table, reclined the seat back, and took a sip of the hot chocolate before responding. "You're welcome babe." He wrapped his arm around me and rested his chin on my shoulder. "Are we all packed for tomorrow?"

"Yes." I said sleepily, as I leaned into him. "Jack you don't need any extra blankets or pillows do you?" I asked making sure everything was taken care of.

"Nah, I have the one on top of the couch." He replied muffled as his head rested in one of the pillows.

"Kay, night Jack-O" I replied turning back into Alex.

"Love you baby." Alex said, sounding alert, as I was falling asleep.

"Love you too, Alex." I said before yawning.


	6. Chapter 6

"Spencer Leigh wake your ass up!" Alex yelled at me, his voice slightly muffled by the pillow I had covering my head.

"Fuck you Alexander, let me sleep." I replied back mad.

"Not a chance, you've said that the last three times I tried to wake you up." He said pulling the pillow off of my head and allowing the noise of loud talking, music, and plates moving around in the kitchen to fill my ears.

"Alex, I'm tired." I said burying my head deeper into the…chair cushion?

"I know, but you have to wake up." He said softer

"I don't want to." I replied, knowing I sounded like a small child.

"Just get into the car, you can sleep then." Alex's voice tried to reason with me.

"I don't want to." I said gripping the blanket that was covering me.

"Do I have to carry you?" He asked getting closer to my face. I grumbled in response. "If I have to carry you, you won't get breakfast or a shower…or clean clothes." He said standing up.

"I never eat breakfast."I said into the chair, knowing I'd have to wake up to shower.

"You do when Rian makes pancakes." He said teasingly back by my ear.

"You're a bitch." I replied opening my eyes and removing the blanket from my head to look up at him.

"Morning sunshine." He said laughing.

"Mm, morning…why am I on the chair?" I asked confused. I stood up and adjusted my clothes, realizing that my shirt was twisted around my body and my hair was a tangled mess hanging down in parts and sticking up in others.

"We fell asleep here during the movie." Alex said as he took away the blanket and started to fold it. "You're beautiful when you wake up, Spencer."

"Alex, don't try to be funny." I replied back as we walked up the stairs.

"I'm not, you really are."

"You need to improve your lying skills." I replied back as we walked into our bedroom.

"I do not." He responded, flinging his body onto our bed. "Now shower." He commanded.

I went towards my dresser and pulled out a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. "Did you shower yet?" I asked, stopping at the foot of the bed to look at him.

"Yes I did, you wouldn't get up in time to shower with me." He said sitting up, looking unhappy with me.

I frowned, "You're gay." I walked into the bathroom and closed the heavy door.

"I'm pretty sure you know I'm not." He said close to the door, I could hear the smirk in his voice. "Hurry up."

"I'm going, I'm going." I said as I pulled off my clothes and gave myself a quick look in the mirror before jumping into the shower.

Once I was done with the quick, cold, shower I climbed out and dried off. After I was dry, I slipped on the pair of dark wash Hollister shorts I'd pulled out earlier and then a gray t-shirt with a red heart-shaped peace sign on the front. Adding the rainbow studded belt and the gray scarf and started to wash my face.

As I was washing my face I was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Yeah?" I asked looking at the door in the mirror.

"Let me in? I need to get ready too." Alex called back. I rolled my eyes at him and backed up, while putting my hair up in a pony tail, to unlock and open the door. Walking in, he set down two mugs of cappuccino on the sink's counter. When I noticed he wasn't doing anything I turned to look at him in the mirror. Currently with two bobby pins in my mouth I couldn't ask him what he was looking at so I simply gave him an odd look. "You're supposed to make sure you get the soap off in the shower, Spencer." He said chuckling at the white foam that was on my face.

Pushing the last bobby pin into place in my bangs I gave him an 'are-you-serious' face. "Shut up." I said lightly pushing his arm as we both chuckled.

Silently Alex fixed his hair, using way more hair product than myself, and I finished washing off the soap and putting make-up on.

When I was finished I hopped onto the counter and pulled my mug towards me. Leaning against the mirror I drank my cappuccino and watched Alex push his hair from side to side to ensure it looked the right degree of 'messy and I don't really care.'

"Why are you watching me?" He asked looking at me out of the corner of his eye.

"Because you're still working on your hair and I'm all done." I said taking another sip of the warm drink.

"I'm almost done." He replied defensively.

"Well, you need to hurry because I can smell the pancakes." I said smiling at the thought of them. Rian made the best pancakes ever.

"I can too." He said smiling at me then moving a few more random pieces. "Look good?" He asked looking at himself in the mirror rather than me.

"You always do." I replied honestly looking at him.

He walked over to me, smiling widely, stopping in front of me. I sat up straight and uncrossed my legs, letting them fall on either side of his torso. I leaned in and kissed him lightly on the lips, smiling into the kiss. "You're adorable Spencer, but not enough to make up for this morning." He said walking out of the bathroom.

Stunned by his sentence I sat there a moment before hurrying to catch up with him. "Alex, you are such a butthead." I replied simply before speeding up to get to the kitchen before him.

"No, no no." He said pulling my hand backwards to get in front of me.

"Alex, too bad; I'm going to get there first." I said racing in front of him and then down the stairs.

"Good morning Spencer." Rian greeted me cheerfully.

I smiled tightly as I ran past to sit at the island counter. "Good morning Rian." I said huffing slightly and grinning triumphantly at Alex as he gave me a slight death stare. "Good morning Jackie!" I said cheerfully once I caught my breath. He attempted to reply, but failed miserably with the amount of food that occupied his mouth. "Jack, that's sick; swallow the food."

"Sorry." He said after he'd swallowed and taken a drink of his orange juice. "Good morning." He said smiling at me.

"Spence, how many pancakes?" Rian asked holding the pan close to my outstretched plate.

"How about five?" I suggested looking at the semi small pancakes.

"Alright." He placed a dollop of butter on each pancake, separately, before putting them on my plate. "What about you Alex?" He said turning to face Alex.

"Well since Spencer's a pig, I guess I'll just eat the remaining three." Alex said looking at the few pancakes remaining.

"Don't call my Spencer a pig!" A voice scolded from the livingroom.

Recognizing it instantly, I jumped up from my seat. "Kara!" I said as we wrapped our arms around each other.

"God, it feels like forever." She said looking at me. "You haven't grown." She teased.

"Just because you're all giants does not mean you have to pick on me." I teased back.

"Gosh, I missed you." She said again. "Well this is going to be fun, your first trip up to the _secret spot_." She said giggling as we made our way back into the kitchen.

I sat down in my spot as she continued over to Rian. "Except for the company." I took a bite of my syrupy pancakes.

"What'd you mean?" She turned around confused.

"Melissa?" I said more as a question than a statement.

"I thought you said she wasn't going." Kara said, directed at Rian.

"Oh shit man." Alex said ducking his head into his plate.

"I'm sorry, she just decided at last minute and I didn't want you to get upset." He pleaded her.

"Well, you could've called and told me plans changed." She then turned to me. "You could've warned me too." She smiled.

"I thought you knew." I said defensively after I swallowed another mouthful of pancake.

"Anyone want the last ones?" Rian offered up. Both Alex and Jack wanted more, I decided that my five would be enough for one morning.

Once the last of the pancakes were distributed and the dishes were in the sink Rian and Kara disappeared off to some other room in the house.

"Well we wont see them for a while." Jack said as he put his plate in the sink. I laughed in response as I did the same with my own plate.

When Alex was done with his food I started washing the dishes as he leaned against he counter, watching me. "Are you all packed?" He asked me.

"Yes I am, so are you and so is Sebastian." I said proudly.

"Good job baby, thank you." He said leaning in to kiss my cheek.

"You're very welcome." I said turning off the water and drying off my hands.

We stayed silent for a little bit, leaning on opposite sides of the counters. "Ready to get going?" Alex asked extending his hand.

"Yes, I am." I smiled, pulling on his hand to stand up straight.

"Good, how about you get Baz, Jack and yourself into the car and I'll get drinks and Kara and Rian." He offered once we got to the hallway.

"Sounds good to me." I said walking off to locate the small dog. "Wait, where's Zack?" I asked, pausing in the doorway.

"We're picking him up on the way." Alex said from the kitchen, where he kneeled on the floor packing sodas and waters into two separate coolers.

"No alcohol Al." I warned him. "What about the monster?" I asked, using the name Kara and I referred to her as.

"I won't, and she's with him." He replied over his shoulder.

I nodded my head and turned around to walk away. I grabbed Baz off of the floor and started walking towards the livingroom again when I horrifying thought hit me. "Alex, where is she riding?"

"We haven't really decided yet…" Alex admitted standing up to look at me.

"I can decide for you." Kara said smiling as she stepped off the last step on the stairs.

"No worries Kar, I think Alex and me got this one under control." I replied smiling back at her.

"Spencer, I haven't seen Rian in forever! Please?" She asked, giving me a pout. I widened my eyes, trying to convey the message of 'and-I've-seen-Alex?' "Well, okay I know you haven't either but you at least got to spend last night together."

"But we already have Jack." I said pointing at the stick thin boy sitting on our couch.

"We can take him." She offered quickly.

"Well I guess you'll have to ask Jack…" I said looking around to see that all of the boys had left.

"Rian?" Kara called out, noticing the same thing as me.

"Alex?" I called, loudly. "Jack?" When they didn't reply I looked at Kara confused. "Maybe they went outside?"

"Probably." She chuckled and followed me out the front door. "Rian?" Kara called when we got outside.

"Yeah?" He asked back cautiously, sticking his head around his car.

"Well we were wondering…" I started out looking at Kara to finish.

"Where's Melissa riding?" Kara filled in, barely giving me room to stop talking.

"Well since Alex's car can hold more stuff…we figured it'd be best to put our luggage and stuff in there and then take Zack and Melissa in my car." He said not making eye contact with her.

I gasped quietly. "I'm sorry." I said quickly looking at her.

She looked at me with a temporary death glare at my easy out, her look quickly turning to a pleading expression. "Save me?" She begged.

"We have an extra seat, call when you need something." I said giving her a reassuring smile.

"You guys ready to get going?" Alex asked, just as Rian slammed his trunk closed, as he and Jack walked out the door.

Kara grumbled in response and gave me a quick hug before she got into Rian's car. "We're ready." Rian responded getting into his car.

"What about you baby?" Alex said happily, drawing out the 'a' in baby.

"I am too." I said smiling up at him, as he laced our fingers together.

"I have a surprise for you by the way." Alex said, kissing the top of my head before closing the my door.

"Alex!" I yelled over the music, "Can I turn it down?"

"Why would you want to do that?" He asked laughing. We had the windows down the music blaring driving way over the speed limit on some empty back road.

"Pretty please Alex" I said batting my eyelashes attempting to look innocent.

"Oh fine." He said turning down their new album, 'Nothing Personal', my surprise. "What would you like to talk about my love?"

"Gah, Alex you're so full of yourself!" I said laughing. "You're listening to your own CD."

"Come on, don't pretend like you don't like it." He said grabbing my hand.

"Oh, it's not pretending babe."

"You're such a liar, you love us. That's the whole reason we met; do you not remember this?"

"Oh shush. I do love the new album though, I'm glad you got me the first copy." I said happily looking at the cover art that I had helped create. "I do think that Weightless will is my favorite though."

"Yeah, we're thinking of releasing that one early." He said looking at me briefly.

"I think that'd be wise, but Lost in Stereo is really amazing, I love that one as well." I said smiling at him. The lyrics he came up with, the way he sang and the music the other boys made never ceased to amaze me.

"You should, it's kind of about you." He said focusing on the road.

"How so?" I asked shocked.

"Well when I first met you I started playing around with lyrics and well the song kind of got started from that…like the chorus, I don't know I was waiting and it felt like you'd never know that I was for you, waiting and I guess before I found Adam I was actually giving up hope and I just wrote the chorus and forgot about it for a little while." He paused to look at me, I was staring at him with wide eyes. "But then I found it when we were writing and I decided that a lot of it should be how we met and everything. So there are little snippets in there."

I was shocked, lost for words at the fact that I actually had song writing about me. I hit the back button, allowing the song to play again. "Explain the snippets?" I asked smiling at him.

"Alright She's dancing alone, I'm ready to go; when I first saw you. Mixtape of her favorite bands, you always had mix CDs in your car full of your music." I smiled at him, realizing the stupid things he noticed about me. "She's out of control, so beautiful; when you were really mad because Pete asked if I was going to fuck you, and well every time you're mad, you look so beautiful I don't know…" I giggled at his nervousness.

"You're too cute Alex." I said squeezing his hand.

"So many of the lines are about you babe, I couldn't dissect them all."

"Did you write them with me in mind specifically?" I asked, knowing they could easily fit.

"Not all of them, no; some just sounded good or fit in the song. But some of them yes, at least the ones I told you about I did."

"I love you Alex."

"Love you too Spencer." I said.

"Anyways, will you tell me where we're going now?"I begged after a little while of silence with Alex's voice filling the car.

"You'll see, just sit back and relax. You're going to love this place." He said happily.

"Alex, you're adorable when you're excited."

"Oh, I know." I shoved him a little. "Ouch Spencer, you're so abusive." He said pulling the hand I held to take the wheel so the opposite arm could rub his shoulder.

"And you're extremely full of yourself." I responded laughing.

"Wouldn't you be if you were me?" Alex asked, giving me a cheesy smile.

"Alex!" I yelled laughing.

"God would you two keep it down just a little bit?" Jack whined from the back seat.

"You should've ridden with Rian." I said accusingly. "What were you expecting?"

"Melissa's in their car!" He pointed out. "Besides I didn't think I was going to get so tired."

"Well wake up dude." Alex said looking at him in the rearview mirror

"I can't." Jack whined.

"Oh Jackie, calm down." I turned back towards Alex, "How much longer?"

"Probably another three hours." Alex replied looking around and then at the clock.

"THREE?" I shrieked. "Alex that's five hours" Now I was whining.

"What were you expecting? Didn't Alex tell you it was in Mich—"

"JACK!" Alex yelled cutting him off. "I told you I was keeping it a secret."

"It's true. He hasn't even given me a hint." I said turning around to look back at Jack.

"Oh well, I'm sorry." Jack grumbled quietly, looking sad.

"It's fine." Alex said, paying attention to the road.

"Lets play a game Jackie." I suggested, quickly once the car became too quiet.

"What one?" He asked excitedly.

"Doesn't really matter much to me, how about twenty questions?"

"Yeah!" He exclaimed excitedly.

"Can I play?" Alex asked looking at me.

"As long as you pay more attention to the road." I warned.

"Deal." He said happily.

We played for a little over an hour, "God, Spencer, you're way too fucking good at this game." Jack said leaning back in his seat for the first time since we started playing.

"Sorry boys." I said giggling. "Alex, can we stop somewhere? I really need to pee."

"Well that's real lady like Spence."

"Oh shut it Gaskarth, I'm serious."

"Yeah, I'll pull into the first gas station I see." He said squeezing my hand. "Call Rian though and let him know we're stopping." He said as he looked for road signs.

"Alrighty." I said pulling out my new phone. I dialed the number quickly and pushed the phone to my ear. "Hello Rian!" I said happily, holding the 'o' in hello longer than usual. "We are stopping soonish, once we find a suitable gas station for bathroom and coffee."

"Spencer when you talk that fast I can barely tell what you're saying." Rian said laughing. "We're stopping soon?"

"Yes, at a gas station." I said cheerfully.

"Sounds good, I need to gas up soon and Melissa's hungry." Rian said, the slight sound of annoyance in his voice.

"Oh no!" I said in mock horror, before the both of us started to chuckle. "I'll text you when we find one, okay?" I asked looking around at our surroundings.

"Sounds good Spence." He said happily. We both said our goodbyes and hung up. After putting my phone away I pushed the mix CD that I had made for the trip into the stereo, allowing Never Shout Never's 'Big City Dreams' to fill the blue car. I turned the volume down slightly and rested my head against Alex's arm lightly.

I wasn't sure how much time had past when I woke up to Alex saying, "Spencer baby, wake up."

"Why? I'm tired Alex." I whined not opening my eyes.

"Because Miss, you have to pee and you're not doing it in my car so hurry! You can come back and sleep. We still have a while to go."

"God does this car ride ever end?" I asked getting up, "What time is it Alex?"

"It's almost two. Go!" He said pushing me towards the gas station. "You're procrastinating."

"Gah, I'm going." I said laughing. Fifteen minutes later we were back on our way. "Jacky! Put in the CD you made." I said popping the top of a pepsi

"What's on Jack's CD Spence?" Alex asked a tad apprehensive.

"Why does it matter?" I asked confused.

"It doesn't, just wondering."

"Oh, it just has music on that he asked me to put on when I was making my CDs."

"Here you go." Jack said handing me the heavily colored CD.

"It looks like a sharpie box threw up on this." Alex said laughing as I popped it in.

"I like sharpies." I responded defensively.

We sat there the rest of the way listening to Jack's CD.


	7. Chapter 7

Alex's POV

I pulled back onto the road that led towards my parent's cabin. It was far out in the boonies so I made sure that Spencer knew she could go back to sleep. I was actually hoping she would; I didn't want her to see where we were at all until we were there.

"Alex, if she doesn't know where we're going…does she know who's going to be there?" Jack asked after at least twenty minutes of silent driving. I knew we were both waiting to make sure she was sleeping.

"Nope, she's completely clueless." I said focusing hard on the road. Jack didn't think this was a good idea.

"Alex! Why would you do that? Kara and I both told you it was _not_ a good idea!" Jack cried dramatically.

"Well what else was I supposed to do? Every time we actually planned to come meet my parents she worked herself up so much that she couldn't go!" I responded thinking back to the first time we'd try to have dinner with them.

_"Spencer, I'll be back at the house in about ten minutes; are you ready?" I asked into the phone, it was January fourth, three weeks after Spencer had come to live with Rian, Kara and me. _

_"I don't know, Alex, I'm really nervous." she said, her voice shaky. Panicky._

_"Spencer calm down, please baby? It's only my parents, nothing bad's going to happen." I said calmly, worried about her. _

_"Alex. I just--what if they don't like me or…I don't know." She said, her breath short and her voice cracking, she was crying. _

_I was fidgeting, I was still a ways away from home. "Spencer, sit down." I instructed, switching to the left lane on the highway and giving my car a bit more gas. "Now calm down, take deep breaths." I said, trying to soothe her. "I'm going to be home soon; it's going to be fine." _

_"Alex, I just…I'm scared." Her words came out choppy, sharp intakes of breath breaking them apart._

_"Spencer Leigh just calm down and breath." I snapped; I was worried about her, and she was just making it worse not calming down._

_"Alex, you don't have to yell." She said, fresh tears pouring out. _

_"Spencer, I'm sorry babe." I said pulling off the highway towards my house. "I didn't mean to snap, you just--you make me worried." I admitted turning onto the street that crossed ours. _

_"I'm sorry." She whispered quietly. "I just…" She trailed off, sniffling._

_"You have nothing to apologize for." I replied quickly, smiling to myself at how adorable she sounded. "I'm parking the car." I said after a few minutes of silence. "I'll be in in a second." _

_"Okay." She whispered closing the phone. I snapped my phone closed and shoved it in my car's cup holder. _

_I ripped the keys out of the ignition and threw open the door. I rushed through the bottom floor and up the stairs en route to our bedroom's bathroom. I knocked lightly once and opened the door to see her huddled in the corner, not looking up. "Spencer?" I whispered._

_She looked up, her eyes puffy and red. "Hey." She looked back down at her hands._

_"Move over." I whispered, sitting next to her. She moved over about an inch, I sat down an wrapped my arm around her, as she began crying again. _

_"I can't do this, Alex." She whispered once she had calmed herself down._

_I sat there in silence for a few moment, contemplating what I should do. One one hand I knew that she should meet my parents, I loved this girl! But on the other hand, I didn't want to scare her, make her this paranoid; not that I knew _why _she was so paranoid… "Alright, we wont go." _

We had gone through that two more times since. It wasn't that she didn't want to meet them…she'd told me many times that she did. She just had it in her mind that it wasn't going to go well. Just another past thing that she wouldn't tell me about. I sighed as I thought of how many things she could be keeping from me. Frowned at the thought that she thought she had to keep things from me when I was so honest with her; well about most things…so being upset was borderline hypocritical but, I can't help it.

"She wants to meet them; she's even told me to just not tell her about it." I responded moments later, looking at him in the mirror.

"It's not a good idea, Alex." Jack said after a few moments of thinking.

"Too late now." I replied simply, pushing the CD into the player.


	8. Chapter 8

"Spencer, baby?" I heard Alex's voice, it sounded muffled and far away. "Spencer come on!" Alex said trying to sound forceful, but losing it with the smile I could hear in his voice.

"I'm up." I called, keeping my eyes shut.

"Oh no, you have to actually open your eyes and WAKE UP!" He said very loudly, in my ear.

"Alexander!" I said holding in my laugh. "That was my _ear_."

His face dropped as he leaned over the empty space and towards my face. "I'm really sorry." he whispered before giving the space before my ear a large sloppy kiss.

"Oh gross." I said whipping away the slobber. "You're lucky I love you." I started laughing as I reached for the door. I got out and pulled my bag with me, walking around to Alex's side of the car. "Why are you still in the car?" I asked laughing again. "You basically shove me out, and now you get to just sit in there? Not fair, Gaskarth."

He chuckled and wrapped his arms around me pulling me close to him. "I love you Spencer." He whispered, his voice husky.

"I love you too, Lex." I leaned up and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"I have to tell you something…" he said scratching the back of his head.

"Alright…?"

"Well, this is my parent's cabin, and umm, they're inside, they kind of want to meet you." He finished refusing to make eye contact.

"WHAT?" I practically screamed once his words processed.

"Well…you said to just not tell you." He said, his voice sounding sad.

"Yeah, when we're at home and I don't look like I just spent five hours straight in a cramped car." I said looking at my face that was covered in sweat and seat imprints from lying against he door for so long. Not to mention that my hair was sticking up in odd ends and unbearably curly.

"You look beautiful, Spencer." Alex said turning me around to kiss my lightly. I rolled my eyes at his obvious lie. "Come on, it'll be fine; they don't care what you look like."

"Yes they do." I protested as I furiously finger combed my way through my hair.

"No, they really don't; they just want to meet you." he continued to protest as I grabbed my bag to touch up my make up and add a fresh spritz of Victoria's Love Spell to my body.

"You are so going to pay for this when we get home, Gaskarth." I said as I attempted to flatten out my dark purple puffy shirt.

He smirked at my threat, clearly unfazed. "I wouldn't have it any other way." I playfully shoved him and started to walk towards the door.

I stopped after a few steps, noticing the lack of cars and lack of screaming. "Where'd everyone go? Did you finally kill Jack?" I asked, feigning hopefulness. Alex simply nodded his head. "And you didn't even let me help burry the body?" I laughed with him.

"I"m sorry love, maybe we can dig him up later and you can rebury him." we both laughed again as he reached my side. "Nah they all piled into Rian's car and headed towards town for something."

"Oh…why didn't they take me?" I groaned as I looked towards the cabin.

"Because you have to do this." Alex replied grabbing my hands in his. "Don't worry okay? It'll be easy, they're on their best behavior; I made them promise. Plus, they're not judgmental, they'll be happy if you make me happy."

"Alex…" I said burying my head in his chest. He leaned down and kissed the top of it. "It doesn't make things any easier."

"Why is this so hard for you?" He asked, as his pointer finger turned my face to face his.

"It just is Alex." I replied, my voice clipped, in hopes that he'd drop the subject.

He took the hint, kissing me once more he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the front door. "It'll be fine." He squeezed my hand and opened the front door.


	9. Chapter 9

We walked into the familiar room, the large windows letting in plenty of sunshine. I looked down at Spencer as she looked around apprehensively, I pulled her in closer to me. "Come on, they'll be outside." She nodded her head and we walked through the stone kitchen towards the outside deck that looked out to the large forest preserve that was our backyard.

I opened the sliding glass door slowly and stepped out, Spencer following behind me tentatively gripping onto my hand as if it were a matter of life or death. I turned back and gave her a reassuring smile quickly before calling out to my parents that were sitting at a small table on the other side of the deck.

"Alex!" My mom called to me, her accent thick. "My dear I haven't seen you in ages." She pulled my face towards her and gave me a kiss. I attempted to refrain from rolling my eyes.

"Hey mom." I hugged her back quickly and reached for Spencer's hand again as she looked on nervously biting her lip. "Mom, this is Spencer." I said the words slowly watching as Spencer looked up and smiled cautiously up at my mother.

"Well hello there, I've heard so much about you." My mom, being the most affectionate woman I'd ever met, crossed the gap between them and wrapped her arms lightly around Spencer. "Sorry dear, if there's one thing you must learn if you're to be with my son; I'm a hugger." She chuckled and Spencer did as well.

"That's fine by me." Her words were quiet but she sounded comfortable.

"Well why don't you two come say hello to your father." She said addressing me again as she took the lead. I squeezed Spencer's hand and followed her as we made our way across the deck towards the table where my father was sitting surrounded by lemonade.

"Alex," he said happily standing up. "How are you?"

"Great just finished our newest CD." I said quickly, still excited.

"Congrats, I assume we'll be able to hear it soon?" My dad asked as my mom poured us each a glass of lemonade.

"Yeah sure, I've got one of the first copies in the car." I took a quick sip of my lemonade and looked at Spencer as she sat trying to look like she wasn't nervous; sadly, she failed she was fidgeting and shaking her leg so violently I didn't know how it didn't simply fall off. "Dad, this is Spencer; my girlfriend." I smiled widely at the two of them, so proud that she was, in fact, my girlfriend.

"Well it's nice to meet you finally." My dad said extending his hand for Spencer to shake.

I smiled knowing she actually had a great handshake, firm. Something her parents had instilled in her. "Yes, I'm sorry it's taken so long." Her cheeks turned a bit pink, and I worried someone would bring up the matter as to why this was the first they were meeting her. But surprisingly they left the matter alone and started a conversation. Spencer kept quiet for the most part, but followed along and began to look less and less worried throughout. She even began to add her own comments and her usual sarcasm. I was thrilled to say the least.

"Oh, it's been like an hour…no matter how much of a mess Jack is when he eats they can't eat ice cream that long." I said standing up.

"Oh goodness no, well bring them back here; I can't wait to see all of them." My mom gushed as I stood up, waiting for Spencer to make her way out of the heavy chair.

"We'll be back in a few." I assured them and took Spencer's hand as we walked away.

"Alex…I'm sorry I've put this off for so long." She looked up her eyes were sad.

"Not a problem babe." I leaned down and kissed her lips quickly and then made my way to my car.


	10. Chapter 10

Spencer's POV

After getting into Alex's car we drove for a little while, holding hands and listening to one of my CDs, in silence as I watched the hundreds of trees zooming past the window. I smiled and closed my eyes and I reveled in the beauty mixed with the warmth of the sun that was streaking in and the breeze from the open windows.

"I'm sorry I sprung that on you." Alex said breaking the silence, looking worried with a hint of sadness and regret.

"Please don't be. It's probably the only way you'd have gotten me to go." I mumbled, ashamed at how I'd reacted previously.

"Why is that, Spence?" He turned back to the road for a moment and then back to me staring intently into my eyes.

"I really don't want to talk about it Alex." I replied automatically, the aforementioned smile now gone completely.

"Spencer…" He started before I cut him off.

"Let's talk about it later? When we have more time and we're alone?" I asked hoping to put it off as long as I could.

"Alright, but it'll be soon." He said seriously looking at me as if to make sure I knew I wasn't getting out of it.

"That's fine." I said trying to assure him of what I couldn't even promise myself.

"Good." He squeezed my hand slightly and turned his attention back to the road as he sung along to a Sublime song. I turned my attention back to the window but failed to feel what I'd felt less than five minutes ago.

Fifteen minutes later we pulled into a small parking lot. Getting out of the car I looked up at the even smaller building that resembled an old 50's diner. Alex walked around to my side of the car seen as I hadn't moved. "It's not much…" He looked up at it with me, sounding embarrassed.

"No, I like it." I assured him as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"Really?" He asked his eyebrows raising up and his eyes opening widely.

"Totally." I said giggling as we started to walk towards it. As we reached nearer I could make out everyone in one of the windows laughing, except for Melissa who was looking particularly annoyed. We walked through the door and were met with loud cheers of welcome. The guys behind the counter joined in as well, saying hello to Alex. He said hey to both guys, calling them by name, and then pulled me in the direction of our group.

They were still laughing when we sat down. "What's going on?" I asked laughing and sitting in a chair next to Kara.

"Well Jack here had the brilliant idea to get some more ice cream, after finishing an entire sunday on his own-they're huge." Zack added for my benefit.

"And after giving the guys typical Jack, gay sex jokes crap he walked back towards us. On his way" Rian started explaining laughing as he did. "He tripped on his shoe laces and face planted right in his sunday." I laughed with them at the visual, Alex joining in as he looked at Jack. "Then as he's getting up he smacks his head on the table he'd fallen under and goes down again." The whole table had returned to fits of giggles as Jack looked proud of his recent stunt.

I was laughing with everyone when Melissa huffed a giant annoyed sigh. The laughing slowly stopped, Zack turned towards her "What's wrong Lissa?" He asked wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

"Nothing." She said quickly. No one said anything for a few awkward moments "It's just old, he does the same damn thing all the time." She huffed again, looking at us all as if she was too good.

Kara and I exchanged an annoyed look. Zack started talking quietly to her as we all sat in silence. "Jack, you have ice cream in your hair." Alex said finally, laughing loudly at him.

"Fuck! It's all dried up now!" He wailed as he felt around in his hair. "Why didn't you guys tell me?" He questioned the others looking very mad, Jack took his hair seriously.

We were all laughing again "Just didn't see it man." Rian said simply taking a large slurp of his soda.

I leaned into Alex, entertained by the scene unfolding in front of me. Comforted to be around these people. As Alex shifted I turned around to look at what he was doing, looking at his watch. "Uh guys, my mom wants to see all of you…and to probably feed you." He said making everyone chuckle. When my face still looked confused he smiled and said, "My mom is famous for feeding you until you're about to explode and then to pull out a pie that looks so good you can't help eating more."

"I gain at least five pounds every time that I come up here." Kara said laughing and standing up.

We were almost out the door when Zack and Melissa finally took notice to our absence. Zack looked around quickly, not wanting to be left. "Where are you going?" He called loudly standing up.

"My mom wants to see all of us." Alex replied for him.

"Oh sounds good, I could use some more food." He laughed and forced Melissa to stand up and follow, the sour look on her face returned.

We all piled into the cars, Jack switching with Zack and Melissa. I gave both Kara and Jack death glares when I realized what had happened, but smiled sweetly as Melissa walked towards me to get into the car. She gave me the worse fake smile in return, holding it for only a moment before it vanished and a scowl took its place. I got in the car and gave Alex a look that conveyed the shock and and annoyance that I was feeling. He simply took my hand and turned the radio on, wordlessly telling me to just drop it.


	11. Chapter 11

The car ride back was extremely awkward. As the boys were talking I could feel Melissa's death stares boring into the back of my head. I never understood why she hated us so much, she was just always like that.

The second we were at Alex's parent's place I rushed out of the car and ran towards Kara. "Oh, Spencer did she try to claw your eyes out?" She asked after hugging me for dear life.

"I thought I'd never see you again!" Jack wailed wrapping me in an even tighter hug. I laughed loudly and hugged them him back.

"No but she did attempt to kill me with death glares." I said as we headed towards the back of Rian's car to get Kara's suitcase before making our way to Alex's car for Jack's and mine.

"God, I don't understand her." Kara said annoyed. "Why did she even come?"

"To have something to complain about." I answered quickly.

"You know, I don't doubt it; Zack says that's all she does when she's around us." Jack added in grabbing the suitcase that Alex had left for him. I looked around for mine quickly and realized he'd grabbed it for me. I smiled to myself and walked in with them.

"Oh Jack!" Alex's mom cried loudly opening her arms and waiting for a hug.

"Mom!" He cried loudly dropping his suitcase on the floor with a bang, scaring away a small grey kitten and Baz that had been sleeping by the fire, as he reached out to hug her.

"I swear Jack, you're still growing." She said looking up when he stepped back.

"Or maybe you're just shrinking." He joked as the reached down for his bag.

"I'm not that old Jack." She said feigning sternness. "You dyed your hair too! Oh it makes you look so nice." She gushed looking him up and down. I smiled at this and continued to watch.

"Thank you." He said blushing, before she turned away from him and towards Kara.

"Well hello there, I haven't seen you in a while." She said reaching out to hug her.

"I know, it's been too long." Kara set her bag down and returned the gesture.

"Kara, I swear you get prettier and prettier every time I see you."

"Aww, thank you." Kara said happily smiling widely. "And you are looking amazing! What're you doing up here?"

She blushed slightly. "You know, all I did was quit pop."

"Well it's working for you." Kara said grabbing her bag and stepping around.

I felt awkward following her, not knowing if I should stick around for a welcome of my own. "Oh Spencer, Alex asked me to tell you he grabbed your stuff so you wouldn't worry." She said making me stop and turn around.

"Oh he did? Good, I was wondering what had happened to it. Thank you." I said quickly, nervous again.

"It's not a problem. I was wondering though if we could talk for just a little bit?" Her smile was sweet as she spoke. I couldn't help being nervous though. My voice shook as I agreed. "Oh good, how bout we take Baz for a walk while we're at it?" She grabbed the leash I was accustomed to holding as we made our way towards the door I'd just come from.

"Oh good idea, he should get rid of some of his energy." I said as I watched the small dog wag his tail impatiently.

"My thoughts exactly." Isobel said in a chipper voice as she stood up. The walk started out quietly as we walked side by side with only the sound of the crickets and Baz's outbursts to distract me from my thoughts. I shoved my hands in my pockets and attempted to calm myself down. I didn't want to mess this up… "So Spencer, how are you?" She asked finally.

I knew I must've looked shocked, because truthfully I was. I was expecting more along the lines of 'you better be good to my son or else.' "I'm good, I really like it up here; it's comforting."

"I agree, Peter and I are contemplating living up here full time; it's beautiful in the winter as well." She smiled and looked around at the trees that surrounded the path we'd taken.

"How are you?" I asked, my voice soft.

"I'm well, I love having everyone up here; feels more like home." She said her face shining as she spoke.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." I said thinking back to the time when all four of the boys had been away working on their album.

"It must be hard for you when Alex is away?" She asked looking at me intently.

"Sadly, yes. I'd never stop him for doing what he loves; but I do miss him, and the house does feel empty without him. Without all of them actually."

"They are a handful those four." She agreed walking on.

"You've known all of them since high school?" I questioned, hoping she didn't think I was rude before for how nervous I was. Again, I felt stupid for it; there was no reason to be.

"Oh yes!" She said happily as she recounted memories. "Jack the longest, but they all met their freshman year." I smiled and listened intently. "I know it must seem a bit scary, me wanting to talk to you like this." She said after a silence had fallen over us. I attempted to answer but she interrupted. "I'm not trying to interrogate you, I just want you to know that I'm thankful for what you've done to Alex." I looked at her so shocked I couldn't even attempt to cover it up. "Since he met you, something just clicked in him. He's more responsible, though it may not always seem like it." We chuckled together. "But he's happy, and that's all that matters to me." She placed a hand lightly on my arm and squeezed it gently. "Although, I do have to ask you to please be careful with him; I know he seems like he's got a hold of everything but since Daniel…he just doesn't deal with things well." Her voice lowered and I could hear the intense remorse in her voice. "He really does love you, Spencer, I've never heard him talk about someone like he does you-including Lisa." Her voice was higher, I assumed it was her trying to make herself sound happier. I knew her pain.

"I-I won't, I love him just as much." I said sincerely. I didn't know what else to say, she'd caught me off guard and anything I thought to say, sounded wrong.

"That's all I ask." She said smiling as we we approached the cabin again. "I'm glad I finally got to meet you." And then she hugged me. I was again taken off guard but I returned it just the same, feeling comforted.


	12. Chapter 12

**I'm sorry for the late update! Writers block has been plaguing  
me as of late X.X But hopefully I'm back...I'll cross my fingers,  
I think I know where I'm going with this...so that's good, lol.  
Comment and tell me what you like/hate/want to see. I looove  
all of you!**

**

* * *

**

Alex POV.

I sat in the basement with everyone, getting situated. It was the first time I'd ever used one of the big queen sized beds we kept down there. I'd never brought a girlfriend up with me before. I was excited, though it was slightly lame.

All the excitement in the world, however, wasn't enough to avoid how nervous I was about Spencer. I'd heard from Kara that she'd taken Spencer on a walk with Sebastian, alone. I knew my mom wasn't going to be mean to her, I knew she would do anything to make her feel uncomfortable, it was just Spencer; she was so unpredictable when it came to this. I mean, she was so sure of herself in every other aspect! Why was this so hard for her?

"Earth to Alex!" Jack yelled waving his hand in front of my.

"What?" I asked, confused and annoyed.

"You're spacing dude." He said, sounding slightly angry. "We're going to watch a movie."

"Oh, okay…sorry." I added at the end worried I'd actually pissed him off; Jack wasn't the type to actually get mad very often.

We all sat down around the TV; there were three large comfortable sofas surrounding it. I vaguely realized we were watching one of the Harry Potter movies. I was back to the thought of Spencer. I was worried about her.

I was lost in my thoughts when Rian started talking to me. "Dude what are you thinking so much about?"

I jumped slightly. "What?" I demanded, I was on edge.

"Alex, be nice." Spencer chastised.

"Well I'm sorry, I'm sitting here worrying about my fucking girlfriend. Why can't you all just leave me be?" I snapped paying no attention to what was going on around me.

"Why exactly are you worried about her…?" Kara questioned.

"I just am." I stated looking forward. I didn't know how much Kara knew about her problems with my parents. I didn't want to say something she didn't want everyone to know.

"Lex…" I heard her voice and looked over surprised.

"When the hell did you get here?" I asked finally smiling.

"I've been here, talking to Kara for like twenty minutes now." She said laughing at me, I sighed contently. She stood up, Jack moved to join Kara and Rain's couch, and she moved to sit next to me. She pulled her feet up and tucked them under her as I wrapped one of my arms around her. I again sighed in relief, I felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. "You looked so focused I didn't want to interrupt." She whispered as she leaned her head on my chest.

"I was worried about you." I admitted shyly.

"What would you have to be worried about?" She asked puzzled, looking up at me with wide eyes.

"I didn't know if you were going to be okay with going alone. I didn't know she was going to do that, I never would've let her had I known." I was whispering quickly. "H-how was it?"

"It was fine, we just talked for a little bit." She said smiling. She seemed fine with the whole thing.

"And she was nice? Nothing happened?" I asked cautiously.

"Yes, and it will be the only time I admit to you being right, she was really nice and I actually enjoyed myself." She smiled up at me and pursed her lips in search of a kiss. I leaned forward and gave her one before we laid back and watched the movie with our friends.


	13. Chapter 13

**Taaaada, look how fast that update was! You should leave me lots of comments just for that.  
Though this chapter really was more fillerish. But I hope you like it regardless. Tell me!**  
**So yesterday's update and the speediness of today's is dedicated to JustAnActorOnAStage**,  
**Indie101, and Ninja XD

* * *

**

Spencer's POV

As was promised, Isobel did love to feed us. And she was good at it; her food could easily beat out any gourmet restaurant. I'm pretty sure she mistook us for an army, she just kept bringing in food. It was enjoyable though; we all sat around and talked and laughed. It was actually pretty amazing.

"So Spencer, what do you do when the boys are away?" His dad questioned me at some point during the meal. "We already know what Kara does."

"I'm going to an art school near our house." I admitted shyly.

"That's fascinating, and what are you going to be, dear?" Isobel asked me, causing my cheeks to blush slightly.

"Well, I'm double majoring in both interior design and graphic design and then I'm minoring in business." I said as everyone around us became quiet.

"Yeah, you're going to have to come see the house soon!" Kara gushed excitedly. "Since Spence moved out, it's completely changed! And it looks gorgeous." She added, complimenting me.

"Maybe we'll come out soon, we haven't really been spending much time in Baltimore lately…" Peter said thoughtfully, trailing off his sentence.

"Oh that'd be so nice!" Isobel exclaimed excitedly. "We'll have to talk more later and plan everything out." We agreed and then the conversation took a turn to reminiscing about the past.

After a long break in conversation, with everyone sitting back agains their chairs relaxing as the food settled, Isobel stood up. "Is everyone done." A collective yes followed as she chuckled. "Alright, well you kids head downstairs…or outside or whatever Peter and I will clean up in here.

"Gee thanks for signing me up for the job." Peter joked helping her collect plates. I followed as everyone started the journey downstairs.

Kara and Rian left to wonder around outside, Zack and Melissa were off on the other queen sized bed that was positioned behind the smaller couch in the middle of the room. Jack was messing around with his guitar. "Spencer." Alex called from my right as he saw me look around confused. I hadn't been downstairs yet and didn't know where he was let alone where we were sleeping or where my luggage.

I jumped and turned towards him. He was standing by a large bed, though it was smaller than ours at home. Surrounding the bed was a makeshift wall of sheets. "You scared me."I said as he wrapped his arms around me.

"I saw that." He muttered quietly. "You're stuff's already down here by the way."

"Oh, good. Thank you." I said pulling away from him and lying down on the bed.

"You okay?" He questioned following suit.

I nodded my head. "I'm fine."

"Spencer, I do know you better than that." He called me out on the obvious lie.

My cheeks blushed, I didn't want to admit to what was wrong because it was slightly pathetic, completely my fault, and nothing to be too upset about in the first place! I shook my head. "Please don't, Lex."

"Spencer, come on I'm going to be worried now. Did I do something?"

"No you're perfect." I said kissing his nose.

He laughed. "You finally see things my way, I like this." I gave him an are-you-kidding-me sort of look and he laughed, making me laugh with him. "Okay, but in all seriousness; are you sure nothing happened when you went on a walk with mom?"

"Lex, she was so nice it made me feel like such a terrible person for being so afraid to meet her." I admitted, that was part of the reason I was upset so I wasn't completely lying anymore.

He gave me a look like he was going to ask why I'd been so paranoid in the first place again, but thought better of it. "I told you she'd love you." He settled on as I smiled and leaned my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. "Now what's bothering you?"

I sighed, knowing I wasn't going to get out of this one, especially if I wanted to avoid being asked other questions. "I just feel slightly out of place out here for one. I mean everyone's so close and I know all you guys, I know that, it's just so different up here. It's like when I first met everyone and I was completely out of the loop, not because you wanted to, but because I just didn't know all of your inside jokes and old stories. Which, I love to hear by the way." I smiled thinking back to some of the embarrassing and funny stories that had been told tonight. "And I know it's my fault for one, I should've met them so long ago. And then this would be so much easier. And I know that no one's trying to make me feel like this, at any rate everyone's been so sweet trying to avoid it…I just, I'm sorry I feel just a little out of place."

He pulled me close and kissed my head. "Well you've completely covered everything I had to say in their defense. I understand what you mean though, and well I'll try to help make things less uncomfortable; just because we're up here doesn't mean all we have to talk about is old times and stuff from here, we can talk about stuff you know about too. It's just the first night kind of thing, it'll get better. Plus you'll get more comfortable as the week goes by and it'll be easier for you once you at least see all the places we tell you about."

"Yeah you're right." I whispered snuggling into his chest. "Thanks for not thinking I was being a bitch or something like that…"

"You're too small and innocent to be a bitch, babe." He joked looking down at me devilishly.

I laughed with him, "Okay if you say so."

"I do. But Spence, don't worry about it. This trip is going to be amazing because we'll get to show you all the places we've gone to and it wont just be the same old thing because you've never been there!" He talked animatedly, physically showing how excited he was.

I giggled and nodded my head as he talked. "You're really cute, Lex." He gave me a crooked grin "I love you."

"Love you too, Spencer Leigh." He placed a sloppy kiss on my cheek.


End file.
